Man accused of shooting at Mendocino County deputy held on $1.6 million bail

The man accused of shooting at a deputy sheriff from a speeding car on Highway 253 Monday night was in court Friday for arraignment, and is due back in court next week.

Walter K. Miller, 42, of Ukiah, allegedly leaned out the passenger window of a 1995 Thunderbird driven by his co-defendant, Christopher Skaggs, 30, of Redwoood Valley, and shot at deputy Darren Brewster's pursuing patrol car, hitting the radiator and disabling the car about two miles after turning onto the winding Highway 253 south of Ukiah in the Feb. 25 high-speed chase.

Miller is charged with attempted murder, assault with a firearm, first-degree burglary, robbery, witness intimidation with force and special allegations of having served prior prison terms and having two prior strikes under California's Three Strikes law.

Burt Schlosser of the Alternate Defender's Office was appointed Friday to temporarily represent Miller until he can hire a private attorney.

Prosecutor Matt Hubley of the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office argued that Miller should be held at the county jail under a no-bail hold, but Schlosser told the court his office hadn't had time to respond to such a request, and that the DA's Office could make its case for a no-bail hold later.

The court set Miller's bail at $1.6 million. He is due back in court for further arraignment March 6, when Skaggs and his girlfriend, Tracy Cox, 34, of Redwood Valley -- who was allegedly in the car with them and is facing a felony accessory charge -- are also due in court for further arraignment in the case. Skaggs is held under $1.25 million bail.

Miller was sought for two days after he allegedly fired five or six rounds from what authorities believe was an AP9 9 mm machine pistol with a 30-round magazine from the passenger window of the T-bird Skaggs drove.

The machine pistol was found in Miller's hotel room at the Best Western on Orchard Avenue, where he surrendered Wednesday evening, when his state parole agent arrived from Sonoma County, after a nearly three-hour standoff with local SWAT agents.

The T-bird was found abandoned in the driveway of a home in the 6000 block of Highway 253 with items inside that had been reported stolen earlier that night from a Potter Valley home.

Authorities are still looking for the other four guns that were reported stolen from the home, one of which was the machine pistol authorities believe was used in the shooting, according to Mendocino County Sheriff's Office spokesman Lt. Greg Van Patten.

Tiffany Revelle can be reached at udjtr@ukiahdj.com, on Twitter @TiffanyRevelle or at 468-3523.